University of Florida Student Tasered At Political Rally

An anonymous reader writes "During a political rally at the University of Florida, an annoying student was tasered while attempting to ask Senator Kerry (D-MA) some questions regarding the 2004 election. Police are looking into whether excessive force was used to prevent the student from going over his alloted question period." There are also several YouTube videos available of the incident.

Re:Move over Geraldo.

[SimonGhent]

> Police are looking into whether excessive
> force was used to prevent the student from
> going over his alloted question period

Perhaps they should bring in a similar policy for Oscars acceptance speeches.

Re:Motive? Attention, period.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a pretty fucking long post you made there, attention whore. Too bad I can't taser you for it.

Help! I'm being oppressed!

[hansamurai]

I honestly expected the guy to yell out "Help! I'm being repressed" as he was carried out of the room.

"Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, didn't you?"

Re:Move over Geraldo.

[ILuvRamen]

If they're so concerned about question asking time, they should have tased that stupid senator that went on for 7 and a half minutes without actually asking general Patraes a question lol. I would have tuned in to see that.

"Don't Tase me, bro"

[circletimessquare]

classic! ;-)

captures the zeitgeist, the spirit of the moment in the usa right now

somebody more enterprising than me: start your t shirt company now, it will be on every student's chest in 2 months

"Don't Tase me, bro"

oh man, instant classic

ranks right up there with "Where's the beef?" [wikipedia.org] from the 1980s

and "Can't we all just get along?" [wikipedia.org] from the 1990s

"Don't Tase me, bro": catchphrase for the 2000s

Re:There are restrictions to free speech

[Digital Vomit]

How does the saying go? ... "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it!"

I think it's actually "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I'll defend to the death your right to be tasered for saying it". Some guy name Voltaire said it, appropriately enough.

Re:There are restrictions to free speech

[veganboyjosh]

Or would you prefer I be arrested for this non-threatening action?

Arrest would probably be too extreme. A good tasering might do the trick, though.

Re:The story isn't about a kid, it's about the pol

[parcel]

Yes. You can see six officer struggling with him for several minutes trying to get cuffs on him. After they tasered him, they were finally able to do so, and escort him out.

Tasers definitely need to be used more frequently in this kind of situation. I mean, I'm a software developer... when the users get testy, a tase here and there would definitely make my job easier. I'm sure there are many other situations where a tase would make other jobs easier as well!

Re:When someone is being an ass, don't drag them o

[kabocox]

Even if that's the case, there are far better ways to handle a questioner who hogs the stage. Whoever was in charge of that event should have politely interrupted, loudly say "Sorry, we have no time for further questions," and cut the mic off. This was totally uncalled for. The University, a state institution, should get their asses sued off.

I just had the perfect idea for future debates. Ask a question within 30 seconds. If it isn't a valid question, you get shot with a taser. If the person debating evades the question or doesn't actually answer the question, that person gets hit. It would bring life and ratings back to US political debates.

Oblig. Python

[jon287]

"Help Help I'm Being Repressed! come see the violence inherent in the system!"

Re:Strike Three

[Bobby Mahoney]

But if you watch the behind-the-scenes video I saw, then you would see Kerry explaining to said cops about how the phrase "Leave that Kid Alone" was actually code for "Taser that annoying son of a bitch."

Luckily UF

[brjndr]

I'm glad this shit didn't happen at Berkeley.

As an alum I can only imagine the fucking chaos this would have created.

I've heard a speaker at Berkeley say it's not an real speech there unless it get interrupted by a shouting protester.

I've heard it's required to validate the speakers parking.

Relax People, It's Not That Bad

[Eradicator2k3]

I can understand how many of you are feeling, but if you re-read the summary or the headline you'd see that it was, in fact, a University of Florida student that got tasered. What a relief!

Re:There are restrictions to free speech

[SeaCrazy]

You put the Volt in Voltaire!